Vince Cable to officially open state-backed Green Investment Bank

Clean energy: Vince Cable said the bank will place the green economy at the heart of Britain's recovery

A new 'green' state-backed bank is to be officially opened today by business secretary Vince Cable, who has also announced the first two projects to benefit from the bank's investment.

The Edinburgh-based Green Investment Bank, which has received £3billion of public money, will invest in a project in the North East to generate energy from waste and in the improvement of some industrial facilities with systems that will reduce energy consumption.

The first project, which is to receive around £8million funding, plus an extra £8million from the private sector, consists of building a group of six plants at Teesside.

The other project, backed by a
£5million investment, will fit the British facilities of Irish
construction company Kingspan with material to make them 15 per cent
more energy efficient.

Business secretary Vince Cable said: 'The Green Investment Bank - a key
coalition pledge - is now a reality. It will place the green economy at
the heart of our recovery and position the UK in the forefront of the
drive to develop clean energy'.

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The bank will invest in areas such as renewable energy, carbon capture and storage and energy efficiency measures.

Mr Cable added: '£3billion of government money will leverage private
sector capital to fund projects in priority sectors from offshore wind
to waste and non-domestic energy efficiency, helping to deliver our
commitment to create jobs and growth right across the UK.'

The bank, which will be given full borrowing powers by around 2015,
started investing in projects earlier this year under commercial terms,
committing £180million to specialist fund managers for co-investment in
smaller energy projects.

Projects: Green Investment Bank will invest in areas such as renewable energy, carbon capture and storage and energy efficiency measures

He added: 'Edinburgh presents the best Green Investment Bank location for the UK.

'Not only is the city a major financial centre, but Scotland already
leads the world in renewable energy, and built up world leading
expertise from the oil and gas industry.'

Dan Barlow, of environmental group WWF Scotland, described the bank launch as an exciting step towards a low carbon economy.

He said: 'Significant investment in renewable energy infrastructure and
energy efficiency will be critical to meeting UK and Scottish climate
targets and securing the green job opportunities available.'